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    Tales of a Wayside Inn: "Therefore trust to thy heart, and to what the world calls illusions"
    Tales of a Wayside Inn: "Therefore trust to thy heart, and to what the world calls illusions"
    Tales of a Wayside Inn: "Therefore trust to thy heart, and to what the world calls illusions"
    Ebook146 pages1 hour

    Tales of a Wayside Inn: "Therefore trust to thy heart, and to what the world calls illusions"

    By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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    About this ebook

    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on February 27th, 1807 in Portland, Maine. As a young boy, it was obvious that he was very studious and he quickly became fluent in Latin. He published his first poem, "The Battle of Lovell's Pond", in the Portland Gazette on November 17th, 1820. He was already thinking of a career in literature and, in his senior year, wrote to his father: “I will not disguise it in the least... the fact is, I most eagerly aspire after future eminence in literature, my whole soul burns most ardently after it, and every earthly thought centers in it....” After graduation travels in Europe occupied the next three years and he seemed to easily absorb any language he set himself to learn. On September 14th, 1831, Longfellow married Mary Storer Potter. They settled in Brunswick. His first published book was in 1833, a translation of poems by the Spanish poet Jorge Manrique. He also published a travel book, Outre-Mer: A Pilgrimage Beyond the Sea. During a trip to Europe Mary became pregnant. Sadly, in October 1835, she miscarried at some six months. After weeks of illness she died, at the age of 22 on November 29th, 1835. Longfellow wrote "One thought occupies me night and day... She is dead — She is dead! All day I am weary and sad". In late 1839, Longfellow published Hyperion, a book in prose inspired by his trips abroad. Ballads and Other Poems was published in 1841 and included "The Village Blacksmith" and "The Wreck of the Hesperus". His reputation as a poet, and a commercial one at that, was set. On May 10th, 1843, after seven years in pursuit of a chance for new love, Longfellow received word from Fanny Appleton that she agreed to marry him. On November 1st, 1847, the epic poem Evangeline was published. In 1854, Longfellow retired from Harvard, to devote himself entirely to writing. The Song of Haiwatha, perhaps his best known and enjoyed work was published in 1855. On July 10th, 1861, after suffering horrific burns the previous day. In his attempts to save her Longfellow had also been badly burned and was unable to attend her funeral. He spent several years translating Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. It was published in 1867. Longfellow was also part of a group who became known as The Fireside Poets which also included William Cullen Bryant, John Greenleaf Whittier, James Russell Lowell, and Oliver Wendell Holmes Snr. Longfellow was the most popular poet of his day. As a friend once wrote to him, "no other poet was so fully recognized in his lifetime". Some of his works including "Paul Revere's Ride" and “The Song of Haiwatha” may have rewritten the facts but became essential parts of the American psyche and culture. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow died, surrounded by family, on Friday, March 24th, 1882. He had been suffering from peritonitis.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPortable Poetry
    Release dateFeb 21, 2017
    ISBN9781787370760
    Tales of a Wayside Inn: "Therefore trust to thy heart, and to what the world calls illusions"
    Author

    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) was an American poet. Born in Portland, Maine, Longfellow excelled in reading and writing from a young age, becoming fluent in Latin as an adolescent and publishing his first poem at the age of thirteen. In 1822, Longfellow enrolled at Bowdoin College, where he formed a lifelong friendship with Nathaniel Hawthorne and published poems and stories in local magazines and newspapers. Graduating in 1825, Longfellow was offered a position at Bowdoin as a professor of modern languages before embarking on a journey throughout Europe. He returned home in 1829 to begin teaching and working as the college’s librarian. During this time, he began working as a translator of French, Italian, and Spanish textbooks, eventually publishing a translation of Jorge Manrique, a major Castilian poet of the fifteenth century. In 1836, after a period abroad and the death of his wife Mary, Longfellow accepted a professorship at Harvard, where he taught modern languages while writing the poems that would become Voices of the Night (1839), his debut collection. That same year, Longfellow published Hyperion: A Romance, a novel based partly on his travels and the loss of his wife. In 1843, following a prolonged courtship, Longfellow married Fanny Appleton, with whom he would have six children. That decade proved fortuitous for Longfellow’s life and career, which blossomed with the publication of Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie (1847), an epic poem that earned him a reputation as one of America’s leading writers and allowed him to develop the style that would flourish in The Song of Hiawatha (1855). But tragedy would find him once more. In 1861, an accident led to the death of Fanny and plunged Longfellow into a terrible depression. Although unable to write original poetry for several years after her passing, he began work on the first American translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy and increased his public support of abolitionism. Both steeped in tradition and immensely popular, Longfellow’s poetry continues to be read and revered around the world.

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    • 4/5
      A modern "Canterbury Tales" fit for American tastes, complete with "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere." Contains also "The Saga of King Olaf," (Theodore Roosevelt's favorite poem) the longest section of the book and the least enjoyable to me. But the book is worth reading if only for "The Spanish Jew's Tale: The Legend of Rabbi Ben Levi."

    Book preview

    Tales of a Wayside Inn - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

    Tales of a Wayside Inn by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on February 27th, 1807 in Portland, Maine.  As a young boy, it was obvious that he was very studious and he quickly became fluent in Latin.

    He published his first poem, The Battle of Lovell's Pond, in the Portland Gazette on November 17th, 1820. He was already thinking of a career in literature and, in his senior year, wrote to his father: I will not disguise it in the least... the fact is, I most eagerly aspire after future eminence in literature, my whole soul burns most ardently after it, and every earthly thought centers in it....

    After graduation travels in Europe occupied the next three years and he seemed to easily absorb any language he set himself to learn.

    On September 14th, 1831, Longfellow married Mary Storer Potter. They settled in Brunswick.

    His first published book was in 1833, a translation of poems by the Spanish poet Jorge Manrique. He also published a travel book, Outre-Mer: A Pilgrimage Beyond the Sea.

    During a trip to Europe Mary became pregnant. Sadly, in October 1835, she miscarried at some six months. After weeks of illness she died, at the age of 22 on November 29th, 1835. Longfellow wrote One thought occupies me night and day... She is dead — She is dead! All day I am weary and sad.

    In late 1839, Longfellow published Hyperion, a book in prose inspired by his trips abroad.

    Ballads and Other Poems was published in 1841 and included The Village Blacksmith and The Wreck of the Hesperus.  His reputation as a poet, and a commercial one at that, was set.

    On May 10th, 1843, after seven years in pursuit of a chance for new love, Longfellow received word from Fanny Appleton that she agreed to marry him.

    On November 1st, 1847, the epic poem Evangeline was published.

    In 1854, Longfellow retired from Harvard, to devote himself entirely to writing.

    The Song of Haiwatha, perhaps his best known and enjoyed work was published in 1855.

    On July 10th, 1861, after suffering horrific burns the previous day. In his attempts to save her Longfellow had also been badly burned and was unable to attend her funeral.

    He spent several years translating Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. It was published in 1867.

    Longfellow was also part of a group who became known as The Fireside Poets which also included William Cullen Bryant, John Greenleaf Whittier, James Russell Lowell, and Oliver Wendell Holmes Snr. 

    Longfellow was the most popular poet of his day. As a friend once wrote to him, no other poet was so fully recognized in his lifetime. Some of his works including Paul Revere's Ride and The Song of Haiwatha may have rewritten the facts but became essential parts of the American psyche and culture.

    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow died, surrounded by family, on Friday, March 24th, 1882. He had been suffering from peritonitis.

    Index of Contents

    TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN.

    PRELUDE.

    THE WAYSIDE INN

    THE LANDLORD'S TALE.

    PAUL REVERE'S RIDE

    INTERLUDE

    THE STUDENT'S TALE.

    THE FALCON OF SER FEDERIGO

    INTERLUDE

    THE SPANISH JEW'S TALE.

    THE LEGEND OF RABBI BEN LEVI

    INTERLUDE

    THE SICILIAN'S TALE.

    KING ROBERT OF SICILY

    INTERLUDE

    THE MUSICIAN'S TALE.

    THE SAGA OF KING OLAF

    I. The Challenge of Thor

    II. King Olaf's Return

    III. Thora of Rimol

    IV. Queen Sigrid the Haughty

    V. The Skerry of Shrieks

    VI. The Wraith of Odin

    VII. Iron-Beard

    VIII. Gudrun

    IX. Thangbrand the Priest

    X. Raud the Strong

    XI. Bishop Sigurd at Salten Fiord

    XII. King Olaf's Christmas

    XIII. The Building of the Long Serpent

    XIV. The Crew of the Long Serpent

    XV. A Little Bird in the Air

    XVI. Queen Thyri and the Angelica Stalks

    XVII. King Svend of the Forked Beard

    XVIII. King Olaf and Earl Sigvald

    XIX. King Olaf's War-Horns

    XX. Einar Tamberskelver

    XXI. King Olaf's Death-drink

    XXII. The Nun of Nidaros

    INTERLUDE

    THE THEOLOGIAN'S TALE.

    TORQUEMADA

    INTERLUDE

    THE POET'S TALE.

    THE BIRDS OR KILLINGWORTH

    FINALE

    BIRDS OF PASSAGE.

    FLIGHT THE SECOND.

    THE CHILDREN'S HOUR

    ENCELADUS

    THE CUMBERLAND

    SNOW-FLAKES

    A DAY OF SUNSHINE

    SOMETHING LEFT UNDONE

    WEARINESS

    HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW – A SHORT BIOGRAPHY

    HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW – A CONCISE BIBLIOGRAPHY

    TALES OF A WAYSIDE INN

    PRELUDE

    THE WAYSIDE INN

    One Autumn night, in Sudbury town,

    Across the meadows bare and brown,

    The windows of the wayside inn

    Gleamed red with fire-light through the leaves

    Of woodbine, hanging from the eaves

    Their crimson curtains rent and thin.

    As ancient is this hostelry

    As any in the land may be,

    Built in the old Colonial day,

    When men lived in a grander way,

    With ampler hospitality;

    A kind of old Hobgoblin Hall,

    Now somewhat fallen to decay,

    With weather-stains upon the wall,

    And stairways worn, and crazy doors,

    And creaking and uneven floors,

    And chimneys huge, and tiled and tall.

    A region of repose it seems,

    A place of slumber and of dreams,

    Remote among the wooded hills!

    For there no noisy railway speeds,

    Its torch-race scattering smoke and gleeds;

    But noon and night, the panting teams

    Stop under the great oaks, that throw

    Tangles of light and shade below,

    On roofs and doors and window-sills.

    Across the road the barns display

    Their lines of stalls, their mows of hay,

    Through the wide doors the breezes blow,

    The wattled cocks strut to and fro,

    And, half effaced by rain and shine,

    The Red Horse prances on the sign.

    Round this old-fashioned, quaint abode

    Deep silence reigned, save when a gust

    Went rushing down the county road,

    And skeletons of leaves, and dust,

    A moment quickened by its breath,

    Shuddered and danced their dance of death,

    And through the ancient oaks o'erhead

    Mysterious voices moaned and fled.

    But from the parlor of the inn

    A pleasant murmur smote the ear,

    Like water rushing through a weir;

    Oft interrupted by the din

    Of laughter and of loud applause,

    And, in each intervening pause,

    The music of a violin.

    The fire-light, shedding over all

    The splendor of its ruddy glow,

    Filled the whole parlor large and low;

    It gleamed on wainscot and on wall,

    It touched with more than wonted grace

    Fair Princess Mary's pictured face;

    It bronzed the rafters overhead,

    On the old spinet's ivory keys

    It played inaudible melodies,

    It crowned the sombre clock with flame,

    The hands, the hours, the maker's name,

    And painted with a livelier red

    The Landlord's coat-of-arms again;

    And, flashing on the window-pane,

    Emblazoned with its light and shade

    The jovial rhymes, that still remain,

    Writ near a century ago,

    By the great Major Molineaux,

    Whom Hawthorne has immortal made.

    Before the blazing fire of wood

    Erect the rapt musician stood;

    And ever and anon he bent

    His head upon his instrument,

    And seemed to listen, till he caught

    Confessions of its secret thought,―

    The joy, the triumph, the lament,

    The exultation and the pain;

    Then, by the magic of his art,

    He soothed the throbbings of its heart,

    And lulled it into peace again.

    Around the fireside at their ease

    There sat a group of friends, entranced

    With the delicious melodies;

    Who from the far-off noisy town

    Had to the wayside inn come down,

    To rest beneath its old oak-trees.

    The fire-light on their faces glanced,

    Their shadows on the wainscot danced,

    And, though of different lands and speech,

    Each had his tale to tell, and each

    Was anxious to be pleased and please.

    And while the sweet musician plays,

    Let me in outline sketch them all,

    Perchance uncouthly as the blaze

    With

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